Gary and Morris Welcome a New Friend

Gary and Morris were in the middle of a deep conversation.

“So long story short, when I am trying to clean my armpits, I find it helps if I lay on my back. That way I can get my face under there no problem,” said Morris.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” said Gary. “I’ve always been a seated armpit cleaner myself.”

Just then, Marjorie rushed past them. It seemed like something was going on. 

Right after Marjorie went to the window, two volunteers also ran over and the three of them were gazing outside with big smiles on their faces.

“What is going on?” said Morris. 

“Sounds like the humans are excited,” said Gary. 

“Let’s go see!” said Morris.

The cats jumped up onto the windowsill, right in front of Marjorie and her friends. Their tails were sticking straight up, rubbing the humans’ faces and blocking their view.

“Gary! Morris!” said Marjorie. “Would you kindly move your tails?”

She brushed their fur and pulled their tails back so everyone could see.

There was a deer outside! It was a young, female deer, with great spotting on its coat, and not an antler to be seen. 

“What is that?” said Morris. “It looks like Bullwinkle… but different.”

“That’s a deer!” said Gary. “We get them all the time around here!”

The cats watched as the deer picked at the ground while it slowly milled around the property, and Marjorie and the volunteers were talking about how it looked so gentle and graceful. 

Suddenly, one of the volunteers lost their footing and bonked their forehead on the window. The deer looked up towards the group of people and cats, all huddled around the window, then bolted towards the trees. 

“No!” cried Marjorie. “Come back, little baby!”

She and the volunteers were all giggling at the situation.

“You know that little deer has been hanging around the property for the last few weeks,” said Marjorie to the group. “She seems very gentle, and we’ve left a bit of food out for her.”

They continued to chat about the deer for the next few minutes while Gary and Morris listened in and received lots of pets. 

Once the group parted ways, the two cats got to talking. They realized that if this deer had been living around the property, they might still be able to find it, and if it was friendly, they might have a new friend on their hands!

“We need to get to the forest. Now!” said Morris.

Both cats took off like bolts of lightning, running across the backyard, into the wooded area, and then to their friend Bullwinkle’s cabin.

Once they arrived at the cabin, they started knocking on the door and shouting to wake him up.

“Bullwinkle! Bullwinkle! It’s Gary and Morris!”

After all their effort, they felt a low rumble, similar to that of a moose standing up on the ground, then the front door swung open, and a giant set of antlers came out moving sideways through the opening. 

“Good afternoon fellas!” he said. “I was just having a nap!”

“Bullwinkle! We need your help to find a new friend!” said Gary.

“What’s this about?” said Bullwinkle.

“We were hanging out back at The Foundation when we saw the humans run over to the window. We followed them and saw there was a young deer in the yard!” said Gary.

Bullwinkle thought for a second. After all, he had just woken up from a nap.

“Say that again?” he said.

Gary and Morris repeated their story. This time it seemed to register with the giant moose.

“Well hop on, fellas, let’s go find that little deer and see if they need our help!”

Sitting on Bullwinkle’s back was a great way to see above the ground level and its many bushes. He didn’t quite give the cats a bird’s-eye view, but a moose’s-eye-view was a major improvement.

“Where did you see her run to?” asked Bullwinkle.

“Well, it’s hard to say,” said Morris. “After she got spooked, she took off into the trees next to the property, but she could be anywhere by now!”

“Well, we would be wise to check out some of the areas closer to there,” said Bullwinkle. “Let’s head off the main trail.”

Another great part about riding a moose is the ability to walk through treed areas without issue. Their tall, skinny legs let them walk amongst small trees with ease, while their massive bodies plow through all the dense foliage like a tank!

The two cats and the moose bulldozed their way through the forest looking for the little deer, chatting about the last few weeks and what they had been up to. It turned out that Bullwinkle was renovating his cabin, but because of the size of his antlers, he had to outsource a lot of the work.

“In the end, the raccoon family is doing most of the work, but the squirrels have been helping where they can,” said Bullwinkle.

“So, it’s their thumbs that make them so useful?” said Morris. “Interesting.”

“That’s right. They’re one of the few members of the animal kingdom to have hands like the humans do,” Bullwinkle replied.

They’d been walking for what felt like forever. Finding one specific deer in a forested area is like looking for a needle in a haystack. 

“Wait!” said Morris. “What’s that?”

Bullwinkle swung his head around to look.

It was the deer! It was nibbling on some berries and hadn’t noticed them yet.

Bullwinkle slowly lowered his body to the ground and let the cats jump down.

“Maybe you two should go over there first,” he said.

“I don’t know,” said Gary. “Would you not have a better chance of communicating with her?”

“I don’t know,” said Bullwinkle. “I’m really big and sometimes that can spook other animals.”

“Fair enough,” said Morris. “Let’s quietly sneak over there and try to introduce ourselves.”

Everyone agreed on the plan, so the two cats started to very slowly and quietly walk over to where the deer was. They knew they had to be careful because the last time they saw the deer, it ran away when a volunteer accidentally hit the window. 

They were about 10 feet away when Gary and Morris decided to whisper a gentle hello to it. 

“Hi… How are you?” he said.

The deer was spooked slightly, but it didn’t run away.

“My name is Gary. This is my friend Morris.”

“Hi, I’m Morris.”

The deer looked at them for a moment, then spoke.

“My name is Lou,” said the deer. 

“We saw you back at The Foundation property, and we wanted to come to say hi!” said Gary.

“What’s The Foundation?” said Lou.

“It’s our home! We live there with our mom, Marjorie, and all the cats she helps,” said Gary.

“It’s a great place,” said Morris. “Take it from me. I moved there not long ago and so far, it has been awesome!”

“That’s nice,” said Lou. “It’s mighty lonely out here.”

“Then let’s be friends!” said Morris.

“We have another friend who would like to meet you, but he is hiding right now because he didn’t want to scare you,” said Gary.

“Who is that?” said Lou. “A human?”

“Oh gosh, no. It’s a moose! Our friend Bullwinkle!” said Morris.

Morris ran back to where Bullwinkle was laying down so he could come back and meet Lou. Gary stayed and kept chatting. 

As Morris and Bullwinkle came back around the corner, Lou looked a little intimidated at first. Bullwinkle was a big boy now. He was once a young buck, so to speak, but had now fully grown into his skin.

“Hi there! I’m Bullwinkle,” he said.

“I’m Lou.”

“Don’t be shy, Lou!” said Bullwinkle. “We’re all good friends and we wanted to check up on you to make sure you were okay”

Lou looked relieved, and finally let her guard down. She lay down on the ground and chatted with the group for a while.

“Technically I’m doing okay! There has been plenty of food to eat, especially by the place you call The Foundation. My only issue is the loneliness,” said Lou.

She told the group about how she had been separated from her herd when a thunderstorm had sent them all running in different directions. Since then, she had been on her own, looking for food and trying to survive.

Bullwinkle was touched by her story.

“That sounds tough,” he said. “I know how it feels to be on your own and that’s why I keep such good friends in my life.”

“I wish I had more close friends,” said Lou.

“Well, you seem pretty great!” said Morris. “Want to be our friend?”

“I would love that!” said Lou.

“We do lots of fun activities with all our friends pretty regularly. We should find you a place to stay until you get on your own feet,” said Gary.

“You can stay at my cabin as long as you need to,” said Bullwinkle. “We are in the midst of renovations, but that might not be a bad thing. You could help me with some design ideas!”

“Thank you all!” said Lou. “You’re too kind.”

“Kindness shouldn’t feel like a treat, it should be the default for all of us when we interact with each other,” said Gary.

Lou was almost in tears. She felt so touched by the kindness she was being shown by the three creatures who randomly walked out of the bushes and introduced themselves.

“Thank you so much. Bullwinkle, I would love to take you up on that,” she said. “I need to get a den of my own started, but could I stay with you while we work on it?”

“Of course!” said Bullwinkle. “I even know some hard workers with opposable thumbs who we can send over to help get your place started.”

The animals were overjoyed. It’s nice to make new friends.

“I was going to walk back to The Foundation with both of these guys, care to join us then follow me back to the cabin?” said Bullwinkle.

“That sounds great!” said Lou.

“You can tell us more about your life while we walk,” said Morris.

“And you can tell me about yours!” said Lou, with a laugh. 

The four animals made their way back to The Foundation and when they emerged from the forested area, Marjorie and the volunteers could not believe what they were seeing. 

It was Gary and Morris, riding the back of a moose, walking two abreast with the little deer from earlier in the morning.

“Those boys are constantly surprising me,” said Marjorie. “Everyone! Quick! Get in here! You’ve got to see this!”

The staff came into the room and crowded around the window just in time to see the cats jump down from Bullwinkle, touch their noses to Lou’s, then say their goodbyes and run back to the property.  

As they did, Bullwinkle and Lou turned around and slowly sauntered back into the forest. 

Marjorie went and opened the back door for the two cats so they could get inside.

“Hello, my boys! Who are your new friends?! How on Earth did you find that deer from this morning?”

Gary and Morris rubbed up against Marjorie’s shins, purring loudly and loving the pets she was offering them.

“It really is good to make new friends, eh Morris?” Gary said.

“You’re right about that,” said Morris. “We need to invite Lou to our next big gathering. I wonder if she likes to have fun?”

“Everyone likes to have fun,” said Gary. “Don’t be silly!”

“You know what else is fun?” said Morris. “Eating. Let’s get something to eat.”

And off they went, excited about the future and their new buddy, Lou the Deer.